2010 Chicago Marathon Race Report

Mother Nature must not like me, because I seem to bring unseasonable weather to big races. It started with the grueling heat and humidity at the 2007 Chicago Marathon, then we saw freezing temperatures and snow in Florida for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon, and yesterday was another hot Chicago Marathon. The initial weather forecast a week and a half ago looked like ideal weather, with highs in the mid-60s. But as the race got closer, the high temperature crept up and while it was comfortable at the start, the high for the day was 87F, with lots of sun in the second half of the course.

I set out to run a 3:20 marathon, and possibly faster if the conditions were good. I felt great for the first half of the race, and actually needed to hold myself back from going faster, and I was on pace to be under 3:20. Once I got to the 14 mile mark, I realized I needed to slow down if I wanted to finish in the heat, so I slowed down for the next couple of miles and still felt ok. After about 17 or 18 miles, the heat was starting to get to me, so I started slowing down and even walking during the water/Gatorade areas. My legs started to cramp up a bit around mile 20, so I walked through each of the last 5 or 6 water areas to rest a bit and be sure to hydrate enough.

The spectators and volunteers out on the course were amazing, with plenty of people playing their own music to motivate us along, and an abundance of help at each water area. The last mile was a bit of a blur, but I do remember the sign for 800m to go where I tried to kick it in a little bit, but my calf started cramping, so I had to stay on my regular pace. When I came close to the finish line and saw I could finish under 3:35, I gave it everything I had and crossed with an official time of 3:34:35. While it wasn’t the 3:20 I was hoping for, it was still almost 28 minutes better than my previous marathon, so I can’t complain.

The other positive to this whole experience was my fundraising for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I have been able to raise $900 so far, which is almost twice as much as my initial fundraising goal! If you haven’t donated yet, and would like to, there is still time. You can visit my personal fundraising page at http://www.mystjudeheroes.org/mconway80.

Thanks to everyone who supported me, especially Megan who put up with the long miles on the weekends, and was there to cheer me on throughout the course Sunday morning.